Jackson Lee on Houston Juneteenth celebration: 'Really hope that this holiday is a human holiday that brings many different groups together'

The City of Houston and the Emancipation Park Conservancy released details on the city's upcoming Juneteenth celebration on Monday (April 18), according to a report from Houston NBC affiliate KPRC.

Juneteenth commemorates the moment on June 19, 1865, when Union Army general Gordon Granger landed in Galveston and read President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation aloud from the balcony of the Ashton Villa, essentially declaring an end to slavery in the State of Texas.

KRPC reported that the celebration coincides with the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Emancipation Park in Houston's Third Ward neighborhood. 

Presented by Kinder Foundation, the event will be held for two days – June 18-19 – at Emancipation Park at 3018 Emancipation Ave. and will feature vendors, panel discussions and musical acts, according to the station.

Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that the artists slated to perform include R&B group The Isley Brothers, funk band Kool & The Gang, drummer Sheila E. and soul group Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly.

KHOU and KPRC reported that U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston) and Jackie Bostic, a descendant of Emancipation Park founder Jack Yates, joined Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in making the announcement.

"I really hope that this holiday is a human holiday that brings many different groups together," Jackson Lee said, who, along with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), crafted legislation to designate Juneteenth a federal holiday, according to KHOU. "But the one thing that should be noted is that the federal holiday was born in Texas, given birth in Texas by legislators in Texas listening to Texans."

KHOU reported that Yates, a clergyman, helped raise money to acquire 10 acres of land for freedmen to celebrate the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation annually.

"In order for them to work together as a community, they helped to make the community of Houston even a better community than it was, for it was only 30 years old itself at the time," Bostic, Yates' great granddaughter, said, the station reported. "This is something that we should all be proud of."

This will be the second year since the Juneteenth federal holiday bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden.